/  Features

Dance, comedy, country, classical music, pop, theater, gallery exhibits, rock, kids' activities, under-the-radar events — there's something for everyone in the Dallas-Fort Worth arts scene this season ...

---

FALL ARTS EVENTS:

Theater | Dance | Comedy | Opera | Classical music | Pop & country music | Visual arts | Kids' events
Other: stage | Other: concert series & more

---

MUSIC & ART CRITICS' PICKS: FALL 2008

Jump to the top-five picks for:
• Country & Latin music

Vernon Bryant/DMN

Dalworthington Gardens's Melissa Lawson, this season's Nashville Star, will perfoms with other Star finalists Nov. 1.

• Rock
• Theater
• Pop
• Classical music, opera
• Kids' events
• Visual arts

MARIO TARRADELL

Country and Latin music
1. Third Day, Switchfoot, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Jars of Clay; Oct. 2; Superpages.com Center
In the able hands of Atlanta's Third Day, Christian rock soars to new artistic pinnacles. Pick up the group's latest CD, Revelation, and listen. Jars of Clay puts on a great show. Then you have rock act Switchfoot and the acclaimed Robert Randolph & the Family Band. This gig could be, well, a religious experience.

2. Los Tigres del Norte, Pepe Aguilar, El Chapo de Sinaloa; Oct. 4; American Airlines Center
There's regional Mexican music royalty here, especially norteño legends Los Tigres del Norte. Ranchera prince Mr. Aguilar always delivers a moving concert. And El Chapo de Sinaloa has a very dedicated audience. So this shindig, part of the Rodeo de la Decada event, is all about power players.

3. Luis Miguel, Oct. 16, Nokia Theatre
Not that he's hurting for material to sing onstage, but Mexico's beloved Latin pop vocalist could easily play his entire new CD, Cómplices, which consists of strong Manuel Alejandro compositions, and give us a compelling performance. However, expect him to offer years of hits, from his famed bolero repertoire to his forays into ranchera.

4. Nashville Star Tour with Melissa Lawson, Gabe Garcia, Shawn Mayer and Coffey; Nov. 1; Billy Bob's Texas
Dalworthington Gardens' Ms. Lawson, 2008's Nashville Star winner, will go from singing at the Olympics to the Grand Ole Opry to Billy Bob's. Not bad for a wife and mother of five. Preceding her onstage are Star runners-up Mr. Garcia, Ms. Mayer and Coffey.
Video: 'Nashville Star' winner Melissa Lawson: Not your average country singer

5. Julieta Venegas, Nov. 15, Palladium Ballroom
In a word – cool. Ms. Venegas manages to merge underground Latin rock with mainstream Latin pop and throw in a few nods to ska, hip-hop, banda, Brazilian music and whatever else she can think of. Her most recent disc, MTV Unplugged, is yet another smart, lyrical example of her impressive creative prowess.

MIKE DANIEL

Rock music

1. The Hives, Eagles of Death Metal; Sept. 17; House of Blues

Danny Clinch

Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco will perform Sept. 19 at the Granada Theater.

Both of these style-conscious proto-punk acts are masters at converting skeptics while appearing to be so serious that they might leap into the crowd and beat up anyone who isn't having fun. But don't fret about that if you attend: You will have fun.

2. Opeth, High on Fire, Baroness; Oct. 15; House of Blues
Swedish black metal adherent Mikael Åkerfeldt's deathly and chilling extreme music is in a class by itself now. Two equally intense bands will open the show: Stoner-metal legend High on Fire and scruff-metal outfit Baroness, which rode fellow Georgia resident Mastodon's stylistic coattails to earn Revolver magazine's Album of the Year honor in 2007 for its debut, The Red Album.

3. Gym Class Heroes, the Roots; Oct. 11; Palladium Ballroom
Snoop Dogg's doing it and Gnarls Barkley's doing it, so it's got to be real: hip-hop with a live backing band. Two of the genre's best at it join forces here to declare sampling dead.

4. Ani DiFranco, Sept. 19, Granada Theater
Forget Goo Goo Dolls, Rick James and Grover Washington Jr. Feminist songwriter Ms. DiFranco is the most important musical product out of Buffalo, N.Y. She's been called the female Bob Dylan for a reason. Note: Former Ten Hands and Brave Combo member Mike Dillon is her drummer now.

5. Ludo, this Tuesday, House of Blues
This Tulsa-formed, St. Louis-based quintet has a sound between Springsteen and Fountains of Wayne and has been raising eyebrows and fists for years on the small-club circuit. Now that it has a top 10 modern rock hit ("Love Me Dead"), catch it somewhere intimate quick before it gets too big.

LAWSON TAITTE

Theater

1. West Side Story, Sept. 5-14, Irving Arts Center

Associated Press

Broadway cast members BeBe Winans, left, and Chaka Khan during a the curtain call for The Color Purple.

After last fall's blockbuster Carousel, Irving's Lyric Stage is starting another season with a classic musical backed by a large orchestra, West Side Story. As director, original New York cast member Grover Dale is restoring Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins' vision of star-crossed lovers from rival Manhattan gangs.

2. Defiance, Thursday-Oct. 5, Theatre Three; Doubt, a Parable, Oct. 2-26, WaterTower Theatre
It took a long time for Doubt, John Patrick Shanley's 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner about a nun who suspects a priest of molesting a boy, to make it to the Dallas area. In fact, Theatre Three will present Mr. Shanley's newer show about race in the military, Defiance, before its sibling arrives. But arrive it will, at last, when Terry Martin directs Doubt for WaterTower.

3. The Color Purple, Sept. 30-Oct. 19, Fair Park Music Hall
This year's Dallas Summer Musicals season has brought lots of fresh shows to the neighborhood, and its State Fair slot finishes out the trend. The stage version of The Color Purple has Oprah Winfrey's name on it (as a producer), so the buzz is bound to be big.

4. Ghosts, Oct. 8-25, Bath House Cultural Center
Henrik Ibsen pretty much started modern drama single-handedly with Ghosts, which sets the pattern for delving into old family secrets and coming up with horrors. You rarely get a chance to see it, though, which makes WingSpan Theatre Company's production starring Susan Sargeant as Mrs. Alving all the more appetizing.

5. The Good Negro, Oct. 15-Nov. 9, Kalita Humphreys Theater
Contemporary American drama doesn't have great representation this fall, but this one by hot playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis is both challenging and fun. Risk Theater Initiative is also scheduled to open its new space with The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by the same author on Oct. 25.

THOR CHRISTENSEN

Pop music

1. Buddy Guy, Sept. 19, Jazz by the Boulevard
Obviously he's not a jazz player. But give the Fort Worth festival credit for booking the Chicago blues legend, who just released the fine Skin Deep. In concert, Mr. Guy can be unpredictable and uneven. But when he finds his groove, he's the most exciting blues guitarist alive.

Erich Schlegel/DMN

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe performed during South by Southwest in March. .

2. Robert Cray, Sept. 20, House of Blues
The singer-guitarist emerged as one of the "new generation" of bluesmen in the '80s, when "Smoking Gun" hit the charts. Today, at age 55, he's approaching elder-statesman status. Either way, he's always been a remarkable player in the less-is-more school of singing and guitar playing.

3. Cat Power, Oct. 9, the Palladium Ballroom
Cat Power, a.k.a. Chan Marshall, used to be a shaky live performer who mumbled a lot, refused to stand up and hid her face in her hair. But since getting sober in 2006, the singer has become much more confident onstage. Earlier this year, she released another impressive covers CD, Jukebox, which was recorded partly in Dallas by local engineer-producer Stuart Sikes.

4. The Magnetic Fields, Oct. 13, Majestic Theatre
A rare Dallas show by one of pop's most intriguing cult bands. Led by baritone singer Stephin Merritt, the New York-based group mixes cabaret, new wave and whatever else strikes its sardonic fancy. Its latest CD, Distortion, pays homage to the fuzz-drenched rock of the Jesus & Mary Chain, but let's hope it'll play older Cole Porter-style ditties like "I Wish You Were My Evil Twin."

5. R.E.M., Oct. 24, Nokia Theatre
hen drummer Bill Berry quit the Athens, Ga., quartet in 1997, it became a "three-legged dog," as singer Michael Stipe once put it. Now, after a decade of esoteric keyboard-driven music, the band has found its old stride on the punky Accelerate. The Old 97's open R.E.M.'s first North Texas gig in five years.

SCOTT CANTRELL

Classical music, opera

1.Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Sept. 11-14, Meyerson Symphony Center
Jaap van Zweden, the DSO's incoming music director, is a dream combination of intense discipline, visceral excitement and caressing musicality. The problem is which of his concerts to give first place. So let's just take his first program, including Mahler's Fifth Symphony and, with pianist Emanuel Ax, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25.

DarnellRenee/SpecialContributor

Orpheus Chamber Singers

2. Orpheus Chamber Singers, Oct. 19 at St. Vincent's Cathedral, Bedford; Oct. 21 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
Donald Krehbiel's hyper-refined 24-voice professional chamber chorus is one of the area's artistic jewels. The season opener explores "Colors of Love" in madrigals, motets and part songs from Palestrina to Arvo Pärt.

3. Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Oct. 27, Caruth Auditorium, Southern Methodist University
England's prolifically recorded chamber ensemble plays the Sextet from Strauss' opera Capriccio and octets by Mendelssohn and Joachim Raff (a German contemporary of Brahms).

4. Olivier Messiaen Symposium, Sept. 24-27, Southern Methodist University
SMU is getting a jump on the centenary of the visionary French composer Olivier Messiaen, whose music mingles influences as varied as Debussy, Indian music and bird songs. Performances include two landmark cycles: 20 Looks at the Infant Jesus (Christopher Taylor, piano, Sept. 24 at Caruth Auditorium) and The Nativity of the Lord (George Baker, organ, Sept. 25, Perkins Chapel).

5. Dallas Opera, The Marriage of Figaro, Nov. 14-22, Fair Park Music Hall
In its last season before moving to the new Winspear Opera House, the local company is serving up its least imaginative season in memory. But a cast including Daniel Okulitch (Figaro), Lyubov Petrova (Susanna), Michael Todd Simpson (Almaviva) and Susanna Phillips (Countess Almaviva) should animate Mozart's evergreen.

NANCY CHURNIN

Kids' events

1. The Mummy's Claw, Oct. 10-Nov. 1, Rosewood Center for Family Arts
While the King Tut exhibition is in town at the Dallas Museum of Art, kids ages 10 and up can take a walk on the lighter side of buried treasures with The Mummy's Claw by Dallas Children's Theater. It's a return of a mystery spoof involving an ancient Egyptian curse that the theater presented in 1994 and 2000, with a few Halloween-themed thrills and chills. Designer Randel Wright promises to study ancient Egyptian artifacts as inspiration for an all-new set.

Associated Press

Meg Phillips and Alan Houser are members of the Vital Children's Theatre touring company that presents Pinkalicious, The Musical. The tour will be at the Irving Arts Center on Oct. 17.

2. Pinkalicious, the Musical, Oct. 17 at Irving Arts Center; Oct. 19 at the Eisemann Center
Ever wonder what happens if you eat too many pink cupcakes? In this show, it gives a little girl named Pinkalicious "pinkatitis," which turns her pink. She doesn't mind at first, since pink is her favorite color. But when bees mistake her for a flower and she begins to turn red, she starts to consider some changes in her diet. Irving Arts Center and the Eisemann Center's Family Theatre Series will showcase the Vital Children's Theatre touring production. It's an adaptation of the book by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann.

3. Sleeping Beauty, Sept. 26-Oct. 12, Casa Mañana
Forget the long, flowing garments of once upon a time. In this new musical version of the fairy tale, presented by Casa Mañana Children's Playhouse, the princess lives in America and pricks her finger on a record player needle instead of a spinning wheel before falling into a deep sleep. Developed by local artists Brad Jackson and Alex Vorse, who've created several winning company premieres, the show kicks off Casa's 47th Children's Playhouse season.

4. Jack and the Beanstalk, Sept. 6-Nov. 23, Slappy's Puppet Playhouse in Galleria Dallas
There's always something a little off the wall and vaudevillian about Slappy and Monday's puppet shows – and that's what we like about them. Founded by married clowns Dick Monday and Irving native Tiffany "Slappy" Riley, the company creates silly adaptations of popular children's tales. This one is about a boy who trades his cow for magic beans. They also present an ongoing weekly Funhouse Follies variety show in which they perform with magicians and circus stars.

5. Rock Band Live Tour, Nov. 12, Nokia Theatre
Rock Band fans will get a chance to show their musical video game prowess when the first Rock Band Live Tour (held in conjunction with the September release of the video game Rock Band 2) comes to Nokia Theatre. Panic at the Disco, which will be featured on the Rock Band 2 game disc, will co-headline a concert with Dashboard Confessional and special guests Plain White T's and the Cab. In addition, local bands chosen through radio promotions, national contests and on-site at the show will get a chance to play the Rock Band video game on the main stage between sets.

CHARLES DEE MITCHELL, MIKE DANIEL

Visual arts

1. "From Manet to Miró: Modern Drawings From the Abelló Collection," Sept. 14-Dec. 2, Meadows Museum
This exhibit's 64 drawings by 19th- and 20th-century artists are culled from from one of Spain's most noted private collections, examples from which haven't been seen in the U.S. as a group before. The sheer international variety and quality of the works, as well as a purposeful focus on such formative avant-garde movements as surrealism, cubism and post-impressionism, should make this display an involving and entertaining view.

2. "Sentimental Journey: The Art of Alfred Jacob Miller," Sept. 20- Jan. 11, Amon Carter Museum

Associated Press

The famed and priceless golden mask of King Tutankhamen

When Mr. Miller journeyed into the Rocky Mountains in 1837, he was the first American artist to make such a trip. The drawings he did while traveling and the paintings he completed upon his return are among the most emotionally nuanced and complex visions of the West to come out of the 19th century.

3. "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," Oct. 3-May 17, Dallas Museum of Art
This blockbuster exhibition has broken attendance records wherever it has shown. It includes more than 100 objects, half of which come from the tomb of the boy king whose death under mysterious circumstances continues to fascinate scholars and the public alike. Buy your tickets early.

4. "Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson," Nov. 9-March 15, Dallas Museum of Art
Mr. Eliasson is something of a wonder worker in the contemporary art world. He has dyed rivers green and created artificial sunshine in the great hall of the Tate Modern in London. This exhibition includes installations that work with light and natural elements, along with a walk-in kaleidoscope and objects that appear to come from the laboratory of a visionary and possibly cracked scientist.

5. "Kate Gilmore: Girl Fight," Nov. 11-Dec. 13, UNT Art Gallery
Ms. Gilmore is a New York artist who's rapidly gaining worldwide notice for her sassy feminist videos, which depict her in vulnerable and challenging situations that redefine identity, success and competition. This show's chuckle-prompting, obstacle-course-inspired narratives are the same ones shown at Artpace San Antonio early this year.

Charles Dee Mitchell is a Dallas freelance writer.

Published in The Dallas Morning News: 08.29.08